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Schools of Magic
Magic has been divided into 12 schools, however these divisions are somewhat arbitrary, being based on observation and not understanding of the underlying phenomena. Therefore there are likely 'schools' displaying powers as of yet unseen powers. Some schools are wholly legal or wholly illegal within the United States. Others are mostly legal, but with illegal techniques within the school. Others have no legality due to rarity. At this time, it is believed that Latents only gain power in a single school. Pyromancy Pyromancers can control fire. This includes both the ability to create fire de novo, and the ability to manipulate extant fires. The most common offensive use of pyromancy is the creation of directed blasts of fire. Hydromancy Hydromancers can manipulate water. They can not create it de novo, however they can manipulate its flow, momentum, and temperature. This leads to abilities such as offensive dessication, freezing opponents solid, increasing the core temperature, and creation of localized fog banks. Terramancy Terramancers can control the earth and non-sentient life. This includes manipulation of earth to create walls, trenches, wells, and other fortifications along with the ability to spur or inhibit the growth of flora. Whispering Whispering involves the control of non-sentient fauna. While Whispering isn't a separate school -- any Terramancer can learn to Whisper -- its practice is prohibited in the United States, and Terramancers found to be Whispering face penalties on par with possessing a prohibited talent. Aeromancy Aeromancers manipulate the air. This includes the ability to fly, manipulate local weather patterns, and project lightning. For true weather manipulation, aeromancers must work with hydromancers. Physiomancy Physiomancers can manipulate living flesh. The only use of physiomancy legal in the US is healing. Rending Rending refers to any use of physiomancy other than healing. This includes both offensive physiomancy (where the term Rending comes from), and elective physiomancy (which can alter a person's body, adding horns, claws, or modifying physical appearance to that of another person). Like Whispering, any Physiomancer is capable of Rending. However use of it is treated like possession of a prohibited talent. Necromancy Necromancers can manipulate dead flesh. This is usually used to create 'zombies' -- corpses that are animate, but under the necromancer's direct and active control. Zombies are like fingers, in that they have no innate will or intelligence, and take no action without direction of the 'brain' - the necromancer. Negramancy Negramancers control decay. They can force matter -- organic or inorganic -- to undergo spontaneous and accelerated decay. As this talent is extremely rare, alternate uses of this power are largely unknown. Portamancy Portamancers have the ability to create gates between our world and The Source. While they cannot create gates between two points in the same plane, there is no limitation to where on the destination plane the gate opens, as long as they can sufficiently visualize the destination. The aperture of the gate can move through local space based on the will of the Portamancer, and has a monomolecular edge -- making it a very effective weapon. Portamancers can also summon fauna from the destination plane through their gate. They have no control of the summoned creature, however. Sentient Elemental Conjuration Conjurers can summon sentient elementals out kinetically active elements (flowing electricity, blowing wind, open flames, etc). These elementals, once summoned, are fanatically loyal to the summoner, but act independently. The summoner can mentally communicate with them, and they will obey almost any command given, however the summoner does not need to actively move each entity, as a necromancer would. Binding The limits of binding are largely unknown, as only one person is known to have manifested this ability. Binders can take an active magical effect (such as a hydromancer purifying a container of water) and draw the magic and intent of this effect out, preventing the intended effect, and binding it to an inanimate object. The object can then replicate the ability placed within it, however the effect is limited by the strength of the original evocation. Additionally, magic within a bound object decays, losing efficacy over time. Summoning Summoning is an almost entirely unknown art. Summoners seem to have the ability to bind souls -- both recently and long dead -- into the flesh of a corpse. This undead 'soul jar' no longer decays, nor will it heal. Such creatures are capable of amazing feats of strength and endurance, and are capable of growing claws and bony ridges throughout the body. However the souls of the long dead are invariably insane, and controlling such creatures is an extraordinarily difficult feat. Suppression Suppression is not a true school of magic. Any Latent can learn to use their own flow of magic to interrupt the flow of another Latent, suppressing the abilities of both. However, as the strength of suppression is not generally linked to the strength of one's Latency, Latents with little raw talent often train as full-time Suppressors.Category:Magic